Occupied Thoughts

In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” Peter Beinart interviews Nathan Thrall about Thrall’s new essay in the New York Review of Books, “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama.” The essay describes a Palestinian father’s search for his son following a bus accident, detailing layers of neglect, danger, and abuse faced by Palestinians living under Israeli control, whether in the Jerusalem, the West Bank, or inside the Green Line.

When Israeli citizens go to the polls on March 23rd, one thing they will be voting on is whether to bring followers of Rabbi Meir Kahane into the Knesset as part of a new party, “Religious Zionism.” The sudden political ascent of the Religious Zionism party was orchestrated by Benjamin Netanyahu in exchange for its support for keeping him in power, leading one Ha’aretz commentator to name him a “lobbyist for the Kahanist party.”

featuring Amjad Iraqi (+972 Magazine), Professor Rabbi Shaul Magid (Dartmouth College and author of the forthcoming Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical), Natasha Roth-Rowland (University of Virginia) in conversation with Lara Friedman (FMEP).

For the resources shared during the webinar, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/18777/

Original music by Jalal Yaqoub

Ft. Lara Friedman (FMEP), Ahmad Daraldik (FSU), Dima Khalidi (Palestine Legal) & Sherene Seikaly (UCSB)

For more information, including speaker biographies and a list of resources shared during this conversation, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/the-ihra-definition-the-fight-against-antisemitism-part-6-implications-and-impacts-of-the-ihra-definition-on-palestinians/

Original music by Jalal Yaqoub

In this new episode of Occupied Thoughts, Peter Beinart interviews Sawsan Zaher, Deputy Director of Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, about the recent decision by the International Criminal Court that opens the door for investigations into alleged war crimes perpetrated by “members of the Israeli Defense Forces, Israeli authorities, Hamas, and Palestinian armed groups.” Zaher, who has litigated multiple landmark cases before the Israeli Supreme Court on discrimination against Palestinians, offers a primer on Israel/Palestine and the ICC -- what the new decision means, who might face investigation and potential prosecution (with special attention to Benny Gantz and Gaza), and how the different states & leadership - including Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the U.S., and others - are responding and why.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, Peter Beinart interviews Jerome Slater about his new book, Mythologies Without End: The U.S., Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1917-2020. Beginning in the British Mandate, covering the Partition plan, and decades of war and dispossession, the conversation reaches the 21st century negotiations, dynamics, and opportunities.

Peter Beinart speaks to Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor from 2009-2017, about working on Israel, Palestine, and Iran in the Obama Administration. Rhodes draws insights from interactions with different lobby groups, presidential travel to Israel and a memorable meeting with young Palestinians in Ramallah, and talks about navigating the assumption by Israel advocates that Blackness translates into sympathy for Palestinians living under oppression. Beinart and Rhodes end the conversation with a discussion of the Biden administration and Democratic foreign policy advisors' approaches to the IHRA definition of antisemitism and Democrats' longstanding commitment to the concept of the two state solution. Ben Rhodes's new book, After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made, will be out in June 2021.

In the latest episode of "Occupied Thoughts," host Peter Beinart speaks with James Zogby about a regional approach to the conflicts, problems, and politics of the Middle East. Building on Zogby's recent article in The Nation, "Biden Should Think Big in the Middle East," the discussion addresses the interconnected conflicts throughout the Middle East - from the Gulf to Turkey, Yemen to Iran, and Israel/Palestine - and describes the need for and potential of a coordinated international approach.

In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” host Peter Beinart interviews Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick, co-authors of Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics. This wide-ranging discussion covers progressive politics on Palestine & Israel as they are today and as they might become if progressives engage more deeply and consistently with Palestine & Israel. Marc, Mitchell, and Peter talk about policy, history, and the different roles that racial, ethnic, and religious identities and communities play in progressive politics. This conversation is both timely and robust.

In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” host Peter Beinart is joined by Palestinian human rights lawyer Jonathan Kuttab, who recently published the book “Beyond the Two State Solution.” Kuttab argues that a Palestinian state with no sovereignty or substance cannot deliver freedom or independence and it is time to look beyond the “false mirage of the Two State Solution.” He lays out in detail how a single, shared Palestinian and Jewish state would be structured - from roles in the military to language learning in schools - and how it answers the urgent needs for justice, equality, and security.

In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” host Peter Beinart is joined by Hagai El-Ad, Executive Director of Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, to discuss B’Tselem’s new report, "“A Regime of Jewish Supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is Apartheid.” Unlike frameworks that see the state of Israel as separate from the Occupied Territories, B’Tselem argues that there is a single Israeli regime in both the Occupied Territories and Israel: an Apartheid regime, organized to advance one group, Jews, over another, Palestinians.

Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and a CNN Political Commentator.

Hagai El-Ad is the executive director of B’Tselem בצלם بتسيلم, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Previously he was director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI, 2008–2014) and the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance (JOH, 2000–2006). In 2014, El-Ad was among Foreign Policy’s “100 Leading Global Thinkers”. In 2016 and again in 2018, he spoke before the United Nations Security Council calling for international action in order to end the occupation. He lives in Jerusalem and tweets at @HagaiElAd.